Captain James Cook | An Account of the Voyages… London, 1773-1784, first editions, 9 volumes in all (8 text volumes plus atlas volume)

Captain James Cook

A complete set of the voyages, comprising:

i) [First Voyage] John Hawkesworth. An Account of the Voyages undertaken by the order of his present Majesty for making discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere, and successively performed by Commodore Byron, Captain Wallis, Captain Carteret and Captain Cook, in the Dolphin, the Swallow, and the Endeavour. London: Printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1773. FIRST EDITION, 3 volumes, 4to (290 x 231 mm), 52 engraved plates, charts and maps, most folding or double-page (including the map of the Straits of Magellan), [Beddie, BCJC 648; Hill (2004) 782; Sabin 30934]

ii) [Second Voyage] James Cook. A voyage towards the South Pole, and round the world… in the years 1772, 1773, 1774, and 1775. London: Strahan and Cadell, 1777. FIRST EDITION, 2 volumes, 4to (290 x 231 mm), engraved portrait and 63 engraved plates, maps and charts, [Beddie, BCJC 1216; Hill (2004) 358; Sabin 16245]

iii) [Third Voyage] James Cook. A voyage to the Pacific Ocean… 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779 and 1780. London: Strahan for Nicol and Cadell, 1784. FIRST EDITION, three volumes, 4to (290 x 231 mm), plus large folio atlas (570 x 412 mm), containing folding charts and large folio engraved plates, text volumes with 24 plates, maps and charts, atlas with 63 plates and maps, [Beddie, BCJC 1543; Hill (2004) 361; Sabin 16250]

together 3 works in 9 volumes (including large folio atlas volume), uniformly bound in contemporary russia gilt, linen-mounted "Straights of Magellan" chart in First Voyage stained at central fold with minor loss, 6 further plates with minor tears at folds (of which 2 repaired), atlas volume with some marginal dampstaining, some browning and offsetting to plates, bindings rebacked and recornered

ALL FIRST EDITIONS, INCLUDING THE MAP OF THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN AND THE DEATH OF COOK PLATE. "Captain Cook's three great voyages form the basis for any collection of Pacific books. In three great voyages Cook did more to clarify the geographical knowledge of the southern hemisphere than all his predecessors together had done. He was the first really scientific navigator, and his voyages made great contributions to many fields of knowledge" (Hill).

Cook's first voyage included visits to Tahiti and New Zealand, and the tracing of the east coast of Australia was one of the most perilous feats of navigation in the whole recorded history of exploration. The second voyage pushed further south in search of a southern continent than any previous navigators, as well as visiting numerous Pacific islands. The third voyage returned to islands previously visited, discovered Hawaii, and explored the northwest coast of America from Alaska to Oregon. The text of these official reports form an invaluable record of the voyages, but they are enhanced enormously by the plates, maps, charts, and views which include the work of one of the most important cartographers of his day as well as images from the three most important artists to visit the Pacific during the eighteenth century.

PROVENANCE:

Atlas volume with bookplates of Henry Labouchere; all volumes with bookplate of Charles Carrol Bagg; Mrs W. Dimmock Buxton, her sale Christie's New York, 20 May 1988, lot 25